Doctors Without Borders condemns Israeli strike in Beirut neighbourhood

Dubai, Apr 6 (AP) International aid group Doctors Without Borders, known by its French acronym MSF, has condemned Israeli strike in Beirut neighbourhood.
     It said the strike in Beirut's Jnah neighbourhood on Sunday hit “a densely populated residential area... only meters from Rafik Hariri Public Hospital”.
     Lebanon's Health Ministry said the strike, which came without a warning, killed four people and wounded 39.
     “We are seeing elderly people and adolescents arriving with critical injuries to the head, chest, and abdomen, including shrapnel wounds,” Luna Hammad, MSF medical coordinator working in the hospital, said in a statement.
     “When strikes hit crowded residential areas without warning, the consequences are severe, both in human casualties and in hospitals' capacity to respond.”
     MSF said that “strikes this close to a hospital spread fear and can stop people from seeking lifesaving care”.
     The Israeli military has not named the intended target of the strike, which comes five weeks into the renewed Israel-Hezbollah war in Lebanon.
    
     Iran says US bombarded its own aircraft, personnel
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     Iran's joint military command spokesperson said Sunday that the US had to bombard its own military aircraft and personnel that were struck and downed by Iranian fighters to “prevent embarrassment for President Trump and the hollow image of its military”.
     Ebrahim Zolfaghari added that several US military aircraft entered Iranian airspace to carry out a rescue operation for the pilot of a downed US fighter jet, but said Iranian fighters and air defence systems struck the aircraft and forced them to make an emergency landing in an area south of Isfahan.
     A regional intelligence official, who was briefed on the covert mission and who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss it, said the US military blew up two transport planes due to a technical malfunction that forced them to bring in additional aircraft to complete the rescue.
     Over the weekend, the US pulled off a daring rescue of two aviators whose fighter jet was shot down by Iran, plucking the pilot from behind enemy lines before setting off a complicated extraction of the second service member who hid deep in the mountains as Tehran called for Iranians to help capture him.
    
     Bahrain urges action on Strait of Hormuz
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     Bahrain's foreign minister Abdullatif bin Rashid al-Zayani wrote in a statement Sunday that Iran's weekslong chokehold on the critical waterway has created an “escalating crisis that threatens global stability, food security, and the foundational principles of international law”.
     He urged action by the United Nations Security Council on a Bahrain draft proposal, which has faced crucial opposition from Russia, China and France over several issues, including language authorising the use of force to open the strait. All three countries wield veto power over any resolution in the 15-member council.
     The vote on the heavily revised and watered-down draft was scheduled to take place last week, but has been postponed due to lack of consensus.
     Al-Zayani noted that the “window of opportunity is narrowing day by day” and failure by the international community to act “sends a dangerous message that vital arteries of the global economy can be threatened without consequence”. (AP) SCY
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(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)